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The Sinocism China Newsletter 09.21.16

"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

1.特稿|陈光标：“首善”还是“首骗”？政经频道财新网 批评者称陈光标慈善数字注水为主，靠倒卖拆迁项目赚钱，涉嫌围标、违规转包，拿着跟领导的合影骗捐款、骗头衔、骗项目；令计划曾看重其舆论动员能力；但陈光标自称从来不给任何官员行贿，“潜规则陈光标从来不去做”。他是“首善”还是“首骗”？ // great Caixin piece on self-styled “philanthropist” Chen Guangbiao and his troubles, including ties to Ling Jihua case…sounds like a world-class scammer, in case you had not already assumed that…

2.Big Data Lens on China’s Economy (Mostly) Affirms Official Stats – Bloomberg A growing universe of big data offers an increasingly complete alternative view on China’s economy, and it’s not massively different than the official statistics. That’s according to a new report by Bloomberg Intelligence economists Tom Orlik and Justin Jimenez, who compared National Bureau of Statistics numbers with those generated from the vast amounts of data and information collected by businesses and governments. The new gauges affirm that manufacturing is weak, real estate is better, auto sales and online consumption are robust, but malls and tourism are suffering and employment is slipping as old industries shed workers, Orlik and Jimenez wrote. For industrial, property, autos and employment, they said the picture is similar to official data, while for some aspects of consumption, big data are more negative.

3.Follow the Money » The August Calm (Updated Chinese Intervention Estimates)-Brad Setser-SAFE’s data on foreign exchange settlement, which in my view is the single best indicator of true intervention even though (or in part because) it aggregates the activities of the PBOC and the state banks, actually indicates a fall-off in pressure in August. The FX settlement suggests sales of around $5 billion in August. Even after adjusting for reported changes in forwards (the dashed line above). All this said, there is no doubt something changed in September. The cost of borrowing yuan offshore spiked even though the exchange rate has been quite stable against the dollar and generally stable against the CFETS basket.

Related:Suitcases of Cash: Chinese Travel Data Hint at Capital Outflows – Bloomberg The explosive growth of spending overseas by Chinese tourists dwarfs the increase in the number of Chinese traveling abroad. The most likely reason? Disguised capital outflows. So says former U.S. Treasury official Brad Setser, who drilled into the spending data provided by some of the most popular destinations for Chinese travelers

Related:China Capital Outflows Bubble Below the Surface – WSJ Chinese banks’ foreign-exchange data shows that capital continued to leave the economy in August—the 24th straight month of outflows, according to Goldman Sachs’ gauge. And while at first glance the pace slowed from July, Standard Chartered said that when changes in foreign-exchange reserves are netted off against trade and investment flows, August turns out to have been the worst month since January. Sliced in different ways, China’s outflows this year are north of $400 billion, which is reflected both in a $190 billion decline in the country’s foreign-exchange reserves and a weaker yuan, down about 3% this year against the dollar and more than 6% against a basket of currencies.

4.We need US for South China Sea – Duterte | The Philippine Star President Duterte has apparently mellowed even further on his sentiments about the United States, reiterating yesterday he did not seek the pullout of American forces as the Philippines would need its ally in defending the country from intrusions in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea. “I said there will be some time in the future that I will ask the US special forces to get out, almost 117 of them, better that you get out so that I can talk peace… and so I can show that you are not there,” he said in a speech before the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in Mawab, Compostela Valley. “I never said get out of the Philippines. For after all, we need them in (South) China Sea,” Duterte added

5.China launches cyber security talent training nationwide – Global Times Li Shuyong, Wuhan government publicity department head, told the Cybersecurity Technology Summit during China Cybersecurity Week that the city government will cooperate with companies to cultivate the world’s top cyber security talent. Li said the local government will double the number of scholarships for cyber security majors and recruit top cyber security graduates in Chinese and overseas schools as well as from competitors at cyber security contests. She added it will also open a class for minors and run special recruitment for “maverick geniuses.” She also said the city government will establish an innovative evaluation system. Instead of taking exams, cyber security majors will be evaluated based on their performance and given priority to practical and entrepreneurship training.

Related:坚持网络安全和网络发展同步推进 让互联网更好地造福人民–时政–人民网 刘云山强调，各级党委和政府要把网络安全工作摆上重要位置，切实履行领导责任，严格落实网络安全责任制。各有关方面要各负其责，协同推进网络安全工作。互联网企业要坚持社会效益和经济效益相统一，不断强化社会责任和道德责任。要加强互联网对外交流合作，推动建立多边、民主、透明的全球互联网治理体系，共同构建和平、安全、开放、合作的网络空间。// it is cybersecurity national propaganda week

6.Once a Voice of Young China, Han Han Stakes Out a Different Path – The New York Times Of course, Chinese people’s views on many issues are very different from those in the West, but that’s not the result of a lack of information. Even if every American website could be accessed here in China, Chinese would be just as nationalistic, or even more so….[What do you think of the nationalism embraced by some younger Chinese today?] Nationalism is part of online culture all over the world, and I think everyone is nationalistic to some degree, more or less. But nationalism is stronger among young Chinese people today. Maybe because of China’s economic development — even if people themselves don’t really benefit from it — they think they’re more powerful, and so are mandated to take over Taiwan and subdue Hong Kong. But their assertiveness only generates more and more resistance from people in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The more forceful they are, the greater the disagreement. The true power of a nation lies in tolerance. // very important point on nationalism… Han Han is very politically savvy, but did the charges that he used ghostwriters also have something to do with his stopping writing?

7.How Women Won a Leading Role in China’s Venture Capital Industry – Bloomberg The largest venture capital fund ever raised by a woman isn’t in Silicon Valley or even the U.S. It’s in Beijing and is run by a former librarian who keeps such a low profile that she’s a mystery in her native China. Chen Xiaohong rarely attends industry conferences or events. She hadn’t given a media interview in more than a decade until agreeing to break her silence this summer. “I don’t like being part of a club,” said Chen during a four-hour discussion at her firm’s headquarters. “I believe in staying independent, making your own decisions.” Chen, 46, is part of an unusual group of female investors who have risen to the top of the venture business in China and helped fuel the country’s technology boom. They’ve backed some of China’s most successful startups and their influence is growing as they raise more money, recruit other women and seed the next generation of technology companies. // nice to see some friends get long overdue recognition

Related:Measures to promote sustainable development of startup investment-State Council he State Council issued a circular on Sept 20 on promoting the sustainable development of startup investment, as an effort to advance mass entrepreneurship and innovation in China. The circular decided to encourage multiple investors to set up venture capital enterprises or pour money into startups. The investors include investment agencies that have rich resources in entrepreneurship and innovation, such as leading enterprises, business incubators and insurance asset management institutions.

8.What not to expect from Chinese SOE reform | Andrew Batson’s Blog It’s hard to overstate how depressed most China-watchers have become about the state of state-owned enterprise reform. After some promising signals in 2013 that seemed to indicate an openness to a new approach, it has just been one disappointment after another. Instead of more privatization and more professional management, there is instead a renewed love affair with forced mergers of large SOEs, a heightened emphasis on SOEs as instruments of government industrial policy, an increase in the Communist Party’s role in company management, and a proliferation of new “anticorruption” procedures to limit decision-making by SOE executives.

Related:Baosteel, WISCO Get Regulators’ Approval For Merger-Caixin The planned merger of China’s second-largest steel maker, Shanghai-based Baosteel Group Corp., and smaller rival Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp. (WISCO), won approval for the deal in late August from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), which overseas state-owned companies. The plan has been submitted to the State Council, China’s cabinet, for final review and approval, which is expected later this month, several sources close to the merger told Caixin. The merger will create an industry behemoth with annual capacity exceeding 60 million tons and over 700 billion yuan ($105 billion) in total assets. The new company will replace Hebei Iron and Steel Group as China’s largest steel maker and make Baosteel/Wuhan Iron the world’s second-largest, ranking only behind Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal.

BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE

Hoping to Work in China? If You’re a Class C Foreigner, It May Be Tough – The New York Times Starting Nov. 1, the government will begin sorting foreigners into three categories: A, B and C. It is part of a new nationwide work permit system that aims to build an innovation-driven economy by “encouraging the top, controlling the middle and limiting the bottom” of foreigners in China, the state news media reported. “It aims to better serve overseas talent coming to work in China,” said Zhang Jianguo, the leader of the State Administration of Foreign Experts, which will run the system that is to go nationwide on April 1 after being tested in nine cities or provinces, including Beijing and Shanghai.

Expiration of Visa Program Nears – WSJ A key provision of the EB-5 program, which gives permanent U.S. residency to foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in certain businesses, is due to lapse Sept. 30, although Congress on Tuesday appeared to be ready to give it a short-term extension until after the presidential election. The program has surged in popularity in recent years among real-estate developers who have tapped it to help finance some of the most high-profile projects in the U.S., including the giant Hudson Yards development rising on the west side of Manhattan. The main draw is the low-cost loans provided by the foreign investors—who are mostly from China—which can save the developers tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars in borrowing costs. // 500k is way too low…could be 5m and would still be oversubscribed

Writing China: The Limits of the Yuan’s Global Rise – WSJ On Oct. 1, the Chinese yuan will join the International Monetary Fund’s basket of elite reserve currencies, a milestone in Beijing’s efforts to promote the yuan’s global profile. In his new book, “Gaining Currency,” Eswar Prasad, a former top China hand at the IMF, says China needs to carry out a broad range of reforms, both economic and political, before the yuan can become a truly global currency on par with the dollar. The 51-year-old, who now teaches and does academic research at Cornell University and also thinks big policy thoughts at the Brookings Institution, talks to The Wall Street Journal about the rise of the yuan and the risks that could slow or reverse China’s economic progress and the ascendancy of its currency.

China’s LeEco raises $1.08B to build its electric sports car | TechCrunch The Chinese market for electric vehicles is hot, and the latest indicator is a $1.08 billion raise from China’s LeEco, a Beijing-based web video company (which now dabbles in everything from televisions to transportation) that’s targeting Tesla with its own electric sports car plans. Funding for its first car is coming from Legend Holdings Corp., Yingda Capital Management Co. and China Minsheng Trust, according to the company.

Homes prices in Shanghai rise 4.4% in August | Mingtiandi Home prices in Shanghai, including government subsidized housing, rose by 4.4 percent last month, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Prices in the city have risen 31.2 percent in the past 12 months as the government’s stimulus measures have made it easier for buyers to finance home purchases. The August home price spike in China’s commercial capital has been partly attributed to talk of an increase in down payment requirements

I.P.O. for Postal Savings Bank of China Gets Help From Beijing – The New York Times The Postal Savings Bank of China, a sprawling state-owned lender that is one of the country’s biggest, priced shares on Wednesday for its initial public offering at $0.61 each, valuing the new shares at $7.4 billion, according to a person familiar with the offering who was not authorized to speak publicly about the pricing. The total proceeds make it the biggest single I.P.O. anywhere since 2014, when Alibaba’s $25 billion New York listing set the global record.

China says criticism of its foreign investment environment is biased |Reuters Criticism of China’s foreign investment environment is biased, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday, as commentary mounts that it is more difficult for overseas firms to invest in China than it is for Chinese firms to invest overseas. “Why are there complaints? Because foreign companies in China that rely on low costs and preferential treatment are now struggling,” Shen Danyang, a ministry spokesman, told reporters. // did he address the shakedowns that many MNCs face?

Does China’s debt signal an impending crisis? – Global TimesGT reaction to the BIS warning // The surge in China’s debt level has attracted the attention of China’s economic circle and central government. Analysis and discussions about the figure have been flourishing. The consensus of the government and private sectors on the issue is that there is a need for China to keep its debt level under proper control. But the mainstream opinion is that the current debt level is still controllable. There are three factors which can support this optimistic view. First, the biggest borrowers in China are enterprises, mostly State-owned enterprises. Many of them have assets to secure loans and thus are capable of paying back their debt. Second, China has a huge foreign exchange reserve and the government has a great strength in mobilizing resources and addressing contingent exposures in the financial system. Third, a portion of China’s credit flows to its production sector, unlike in Western countries where governments borrow massively to pay for social welfare benefits. In China, debt can usually generate new assets.

Developer pays record price for land in southern China after bidding frenzy | Reuters The winner, Times Property Holdings (1233.HK), became the new “land king” in the area by paying an all-time high of 12,517 yuan ($1,876.27) per square meter, five times higher than the starting price, the newspaper said. A manufacturing hub in Guangdong province, second-tier city Dongguan has seen property prices rise sharply this year, partially due to its relatively close proximity to China’s tech hub Shenzhen, where undeveloped land is more scarce. Data from the China Index Academy, a Chinese property research institute, showed that Dongguan was among the top 10 hottest markets in the country.

Buyers keep faith in Chinese province seen as test of debt tolerance | Reuters China’s struggling Liaoning province, a bellwether for China’s municipal debt, sold bonds on Tuesday at much higher yields than its peers but well below its 2016 highs, suggesting investors see little immediate threat of default. Liaoning is the only province in China in recession and is viewed by analysts as a test of the central government’s tolerance for ballooning municipal debt, which is fuelling wider global market concerns about China’s overall credit.

Shenzhen Government Considers Setting Ride-Hailing Prices-Caixin The Shenzhen government has signaled that it may step in “when it is necessary” to dictate how online ride-hailing services in the city set prices, Caixin has learned. A draft rule seen by Caixin shows the government in the southern city was mulling price curbs, but the rule did not elaborate the conditions under which it would do so. The draft has not been released for public comment.

POLITICS AND LAW

China publishes selected works of Hu Jintao – People’s Daily OnlineI am looking forward to the miniseries // The 242 works include Hu’s reports, speeches, conversations, articles, letters and instructions during that time, and a large part of them are made public for the first time, according to the statement, adding that it is a “vivid textbook” for studying and implementing the theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The CPC Central Committee decided to compile and publish Hu’s selection in July 2013, saying it is of great significance in the political life of the Party and state, it says.

Four Held in China’s Hunan Over Bid For Independent Election Candidacy-RFA Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hunan have detained four people who campaigned for the election of an independent candidate to the local People’s Congress, rights activists said on Tuesday. Guan Guilin, Yu Cheng, Zhang Shixiang, and Hu Shuangqing were taken away on Monday by state security police after they accompanied Guan to register as a candidate in forthcoming elections for the Qidong county People’s Congress, Hunan rights activist Ou Biaofeng told RFA.In Wukan, Making a Clean Sweep – China Media Project – Medium Wukan has now gone quiet, as much as we can glimpse the village from media inside China. No articles for “Wukan” appear at all today in the WiseNews database. Select for Chinese-language coverage in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other regions and things are nearly as quiet — just four articles, two each in Ming Pao Daily and Apple Daily. The clean sweep, it seems, is complete.

‘Bailed’ Chinese Rights Lawyers Under Round-The-Clock Surveillance Prominent Chinese rights lawyer Wang Yu, who was ‘released’ on bail after being held for more than a year on subversion charges, is now under tight surveillance akin to house arrest along with her whole family, her lawyer told RFA. Concerns are growing for the safety of dozens of human rights lawyers and associates locked up in an unknown location by the Chinese authorities in a crackdown that started in July 2015.

Western Journalistic Confirmation Bias: Reporting on Kashgar’s Old Town Renewal Project | The Diplomat Given that the Western media has repeatedly used four arguments that are grossly misinformed and taken out of context to attack Beijing’s KOT renewal project, it can be argued that such journalists’ analysis has been distorted by confirmation bias. Despite its shortcomings, most Uyghur dwellers of the Kashgar Old Town do welcome this renewal project that results in a significant improvement of their living conditions. Beijing’s KOT renewal project “combines tradition and modernity” (CCTV) and should be understood within China’s overall modernization aimed at improving people’s lives, including those of the Uyghurs. Not as a concerted attack on the Uyghurs’ history, social fabric, and identity. Patrik K. Meyer, a New America Security Fellow and a Visiting Professor at Muhammadiyah University Yogyakarta, Indonesia. // have not visited, have no opinion on this

FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

Sam Dastyari-linked political donor resigns from Bob Carr institute after major review | afr.com Political donor Huang Xiangmo, who paid a legal bill for NSW Labor Senator Sam Dastyari, has resigned as chairman of Bob Carr’s China institute at the University of Technology as the fallout continues from scrutiny of China’s soft power in Australia. It can also be revealed that the management of the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) has been overhauled by the university. ACRI was subjected to a major governance review, which will now result in the board Mr Huang chaired being dissolved and the institute coming under a new management committee headed by deputy vice-chancellor Professor Bill Purcell, UTS confirmed.

Canada Agrees to Talks on Extradition Treaty With China – The New York Times The announcement, which has prompted criticism by human rights advocates, came a day before Beijing deported a Canadian missionary, Kevin Garratt, who had been detained in China on espionage charges for more than two years. The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week denied that it had made any concessions for Mr. Garratt’s release, though the timing has led many to believe the deportation was part of a deal that will also grant the Chinese authorities an official role in identifying Chinese nationals who entered Canada illegally.

Chinese agents enter Canada on tourist visas to coerce return of fugitive expats – The Globe and Mail China’s security services have been sending undercover agents into Canada on tourist visas to strong-arm expatriates to return home, including some suspected of corruption and other criminal activities. The secret Chinese visits have raised concern among lawyers and prompted investigations by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP, even as the Trudeau government begins negotiations for an extradition treaty with China.

Indonesia, US plan joint patrols on edge of Indonesian waters | ABS-CBN News Indonesia and the United States have planned to carry out joint patrols around the outer maritime boundaries of Indonesian territorial waters in an effort to combat illegal fishing and human trafficking, Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries said Wednesday. According to a press statement, the plan was discussed during a bilateral meeting between Indonesia’s Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti and U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Kathryn Sullivan in Washington last week.

China-Thailand Rail Project Back on Track With Cost Agreement | The Diplomat The two countries have been discussing the billion-dollar rail project for years, with the latest iteration since 2014 being two routes covering 873 kilometers (542 miles) running from southern China through Laos to Thailand’s industrial eastern coast. As I have stressed elsewhere, the project is central to Chinese broader infrastructure objectives under the One Belt, One Road which would see a railway running from Kunming all the way down to Malaysia and Singapore (See: “China’s Grand Plans in Southeast Asia on Track With Thai Rail Deal”).

China threatens countermeasures after Dalai Lama speaks at EU Parliament | Reuters Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the European Parliament and Schultz had ignored China’s “strong opposition” about meeting the Dalai Lama, which ran contrary to the European Union’s promises to China on the issue of Tibet. “China is resolutely opposed to the mistaken actions of the European Parliament,” Lu told a daily news briefing, adding that its leaders’ insistence on taking an erroneous position had damaged China’s core interests.

China’s Artificial Islands Are Bigger (And a Bigger Deal) Than You Think If China is building the “big three” to be able to deter or counter a U.S. regional intervention, its plans would likely include deployment of the “counter-intervention” (China’s term) anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) system-of-systems that has already raised much concern in the United States. Given recent deployments to Woody Island (China’s outpost in the Paracel Islands) of HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles (SAMs, see Figure 2), YJ-62 anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), and J-11 fighters, one could expect such deployments to the “big three” as well, perhaps joined by the precision-strike ballistic surface-to-surface (SSM) and land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs) of the PLA Rocket Forces (known formerly as the 2nd Artillery Corps). A look at the resulting effective range arcs (see Figure 3) shows that in a stroke, China would have an interlocking and mutually-supporting SAM umbrella over most of the Spratlys, as well as ASCM coverage over the heart of the South China Sea. Also, where the U.S. military could previously have been able to operate out of austere southern Philippines airfields beyond conventional ballistic or ground-launched cruise missile range, China would now be able to strike, with either DF-21C land-attack ballistic missiles or CJ-10 cruise missiles, U.S. and allied facilities and airfields throughout the Philippines and even to Singapore.

China Announces Inquiry Into Company Trading With North Korea – The New York Times The Public Security Department of Liaoning Province said on a government website last week that the Hongxiang conglomerate, based in Dandong, a major trading center with North Korea, was suspected of “serious economic crimes.” “During their work, the Liaoning public security authorities discovered that for a long time the Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Company Ltd. and a relevant responsible individual engaged in suspected grave economic crimes during trading activities,” the department said.

The Enduring Beijing-Pyongyang Axis – WSJ China this year aired “38th Parallel,” the first national television series in five decades to commemorate the Korean War. “The only true villains in the drama are the U.S. troops,” reported Beijing’s Global Times, while North Korean soldiers aren’t depicted at all. The project’s historical consultant was senior Gen. Liu Yuan, a close ally of Mr. Xi and, like him, the princeling son of a Mao-era hero, former President Liu Shaoqi. Such TV shows are no accident: Producers filmed a previous Korean War series in 2000, but the government shelved it after 9/11 to avoid hurting relations with Washington. Now things are different, so “38th Parallel” got to air, making it even more unlikely that Beijing will cooperate with U.S.-led sanctions to push Pyongyang to the edge. // on episode 6 of the “38th Parallel”, cheesy but very anti-American, as you would expect given the topic

TECH AND MEDIA

Big Stories in Little China – Los Angeles Magazine Now Liu is in his tenth year as editor-in-chief of The China Press, whose motto is “Understanding China in the U.S.” There are plenty of other papers in the region geared to expat communities, including Rafu Shimpo, Saigon Times, and The Armenian Observer, but Liu’s has witnessed explosive growth in the terrain it covers. Since its L.A. launch in 1994, the paper has seen China transform into a future superpower and more than a quarter million Chinese Americans and immigrants flock into the San Gabriel Valley—including Alhambra. Liu’s staff has kept pace. Along with its six reporters and more than a dozen editors who focus on Southern California, the paper and its online version have established bureaus in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and other major American cities to provide deeper coverage in the United States.

NetEase Will Close Its Online Forums Next Month – ChinaTechNews.com Chinese Internet portal NetEase says that due to media business development needs, the company’s online forums will stop providing services from October 19, 2016. This is yet another media service closed by NetEase, following its recent community and microblog service closures. According to the notice on NetEase’s forums, the company will provide a “memories packaging” service before its shutdown. With one click, users can pack and download their personal article data and favorites. Once the forum is closed, user data will not be maintained.

Voyeurism Makes the Transition to Cell Phones in China – Bloomberginvestor friend in one of the private firms in this space told me they are on track for 200m USD in revenue this year and are working on an IPO // Platforms that help you peer into the lives of ordinary people doing ordinary things had a rocky transition to mobile — hampered, according to Credit Suisse, by poor infrastructure. Still, since the start of 2016, the market’s grown at a pace that has them predicting it will reach $5 billion by the end of next year. That’s hardly much smaller than the Chinese cinema industry, whose box office receipts amount to $7 billion.

Video Operator iQiyi Shoots for Profitability as Soon as 2018-Caixin The company has seen its revenue grow sharply over the last three years, rising more than 80 percent to 5.3 billion yuan ($794 million) last year from 2014 as more Chinese consumers watched programs over the internet, according to Baidu’s annual report. But the company’s costs have grown even more quickly, and last year iQiyi posted a net loss of 2.4 billion yuan, more than double its loss from the previous year. As competition finally starts to ease, the company hopes to become profitable as soon as 2018, and within three years at the latest, Gong said at an event at Fudan University in Shanghai //why would competition start to ease?

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

Govt Officials Called Upon to Lead the Way in Birthing a Second Child – People’s Daily Online The Health and Family Planning Commission of Yichang, a large city in central China’s Hubei province, recently called upon local government leaders and members of the Communist Youth League to provide assistance. In other words, push them to have another kid. The commission issued a public letter on Sunday urging young comrades to lead by example in birthing a second child. For those who are older, the letter asked that they act as vocal advocates and encourage the youth. // quite the ad in one village, found it on wechat, posted it my my twitter feed @niubi

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

Out of China’s Dusty Northwest Corner, a Solar Behemoth Arises – Bloomberg Share on Facebook Share on Twitter As China adds record amounts of renewable energy, a solar farm under construction in the Ningxia region of the country’s northwest takes efforts to a new level. The project, being developed in phases by the clean energy unit of China’s biggest private investment group, will cover 4,607 hectares, or slightly more than 7,000 U.S. east coast city blocks. It will boast capacity of 2 gigawatts when complete, surpassing the scale of photovoltaics in place in Thailand at the end of 2015. The 15.6 billion-yuan ($2.34 billion) plant will need about 6 million panels and will be the biggest the world has ever seen.

Government Tightens Rules on Unruly Baby-Formula Market-Caixin The country has about 2,000 infant formulas, produced by more than 100 companies. Now the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) is trying to consolidate and help tame the unruly market with a new set of regulations. Under rules that go into effect Oct. 1, every infant-formula manufacturer — domestic and foreign — must register each of their products with the CFDA and produce no more than nine formulas under up to three brands. If a company produces more than one formula for an age group, it is required to explain the difference between the two products.

BOOKS AND LITERATURE

Exiled Chinese Writer’s New Novel Penned in Secret While in Prison-RFA The novel’s provenance is clear from the dust jacket. In the background of the title, “The Reincarnation of The Ants,” is an image of the tiny Chinese characters of Liao’s scrawled manuscript as he served time for calling out the ruling Chinese Communist Party on the killing of civilians by the People’s Liberation Army. The novel is only partly autobiographical, however.

BEIJING

Beijing Scraps Urban-Rural Hukou Distinction-Caixin Beijing has ended the distinction between urban and rural residents in the city’s household registration system, giving both groups access to the same level of public services, but analysts said it may not immediately narrow the gap between city and countryside. The decision announced on Monday will affect 2.9 million residents categorized as agricultural workers.

The End of Guijie As We Know It? Parking Banned as Street Begins Major Five-Month Makeover | the Beijinger Foodies used to making the 1,472-meter-long strip of spicy Chinese delicacies on Guijie their go-to spot beware: The western half of the street will be closed to parking and taxi dropoffs for the next two months as the street goes through a major upgrade that may leave the popular dining strip nothing like its former incarnation. According to the Beijing Times, the Dongcheng district government will begin what is expected to be a five-month-long renovation project tomorrow, with the first phase being the replacement of gas pipelines and the installation of additional fire hydrants along the street. Restaurants found violating fire safety regulations will also be shut.